“We’re so excited for this anniversary event,” said Kim Lowman Vollmer, youth education and grant chair for the local Wild Ones Natural Landscaping group. “We love getting people out and educating them. Spreading the word about native plants and protecting butterflies is so important.”

The celebration, called “Inviting nature home,” will feature two events.

— A lecture on monarchs and their habitat needs at 9 a.m. Saturday at Northern Illinois University’s Rockford campus at 8500 E. State St. The speaker will be Michael R. Jeffords, a retired entomologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey. He and his wife, Susan Post, wrote “Exploring Nature in Illinois,” a field guide to natural areas. The event is free for Wild Ones members; a $5 donation is asked of others.

— Free tours of nine yards and public spaces planted with natural habitat, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. next Sunday. The yards illustrate what casual gardeners can do to attract birds and butterflies. Family activities related to planting milkweed and helping Monarchs will be offered. The list of gardens will be posted on wildonesrrvc.org. The gardens are in Rockford, Rockton, Roscoe, South Beloit and Belvidere.

“One of the homes is owned by a beekeeper, so everything will involve bees,” Lowman Vollmer said. “Another tour will be all about seeds, and so on. We’re trying to do something that will appeal to both young people and adults so that everyone can learn something.”

The mission of the Wild Ones organization is to promote environmentally sound landscaping practices and preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities.

Milkweed plants will be given away to families at two of the tour sites, while supplies last, to help the public attract butterflies to their own yards, as Monarch butterflies will only lay eggs on milkweed.

“Monarchs are in danger, so we want to do anything we can to help preserve them,” Lowman Vollmer said. “We destroy their habitats by pulling the milkweed plants, and the farmers mow them out of the farm fields.”

Jeffords’ lecture, “Surrounding Yourself with Nature: Strategies for the Home Landscape,” will include pictures of insects and native plants.

“I hope that what he has to say will touch people and encourage them to maybe put in native plants in their yards so that we can continue to protect these insects,” said Lowman Vollmer.

Page 2 of 2 - For more information about the Wild Ones and their anniversary event, including details about the natural yard tour, visit their website at wildonesrrvc.org.